Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s new summer attraction was drawing people in before it even opened.

Looking for a new summer activity, the ski resort settled on a 1.4-kilometre summer coaster. The thrill ride, built by Brandauer Mountain Coaster, is similar to a roller-coaster but runs down the mountain close to the ground.

Passengers, who ride in individual cars, can reach speeds of 42 km/h, though they can control the velocity with a brake.

A point-of-view video unveiling the coaster brought the resort tons of instant attention.

“Before the video a lot of people knew we were building it, but didn’t really understand what it would be like,” says Peter Nielsen, vice-president of operations at the Revelstoke resort. Nielsen says after the video, interest “exploded.”

“It went viral. We had 1.5 million views on Facebook and more than 200,000 on YouTube. We’ve had almost every news outlet in North America cover it.”

Revelstoke’s coaster is part of a new wave of summer activities rolling across ski resorts in B.C.’s Kootenay Rockies tourism region, as companies look to boost what was once the quiet off-season at their hills.

Jason Simpson, director of mountain sports at Panorama Mountain Resort, which offers activities ranging from golf and tennis to hiking and hot pools with waterslides, says a summer season at a ski resort just makes sense.

“We have this great amenity — the infrastructure — so how do we maximize that year-round and have it continue to generate money or at least hold its own through those summer months?”

Simpson says even after a resort has built summer amenities, it needs to constantly maintain and improve them to keep visitors coming back. Panorama’s lift-accessed mountain bike park has undergone a renaissance the past few years as crews have redone trails and added new ones, he says. “Whistler Blackcomb really inspired this with their A-Line trail, which changed how gravity riders view downhill mountain biking. Now it’s about flow and going fast and taking air.”

Matt Mosteller, senior vice-president of marketing and resort experience with Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR), says there is no single recipe for a successful summer season. RCR, which owns Fernie Alpine Resort, Kimberley Alpine Resort and Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, offers a different mix of summer activities at its different properties.

“Each has a different brand and a different experience. With Fernie, it’s the adventurous family with a real zest for life. So the question is how do we get a fit to that market?” Mosteller says.

At Fernie, the answer was to open the Canadian Rockies’ first aerial park and ziplines, which Mosteller describes as “basically putting a playground high in the sky.

“You’re challenging yourself by walking across wires or boards or trestles while suspended 30 to 50 feet (nine to 15 metres) in the air — completely secured with a safety harness to an anchor line.”

He says Kimberley doesn’t offer full-time lift operations at the ski hill, but runs lifts for special events, which in the past have ranged from concerts on the mountain to trail runs, kids festivals and numerous weddings.

Kicking Horse’s reputation as a “base camp for adventure” led to the opening last summer of a via ferrata, a system of safety cables, pegs, iron rungs and ladders attached to the side of a mountain to allow non-climbers to scale a mountain face while safely secured.

“On one hand, you’re challenging yourself to do something you’ve probably never done before, but on the other hand you have the knowledge that you are safe and being guided,” says Mosteller.

That is the trend within a trend — offering new summer activities that can be tackled by a wider range of visitors, says Revelstoke’s Nielsen.

“It’s broader-based activities for the general public and not just adventure sport enthusiasts,” says Nielsen.

Besides the coaster which opened in May, Revelstoke is building new multi-use trails in the high alpine that will serve both hikers and cross-country mountain bikers.

“We want to grow the menu of lift-based activities that are available, (because) the lifts make the mountain that much more accessible.”

This summer Fernie will offer lift-accessed camping, allowing almost anyone to enjoy staying in a tent overnight in a beautiful high-alpine meadow.

Resorts are also partnering with other companies to offer additional activities in the surrounding area, with trip booking and departures right from the resort. Revelstoke has heli-hiking and sightseeing through its sister company, Selkirk Tangiers, while Panorama has teamed up with local tour companies to offer whitewater rafting, fishing, ATV tours and more.

This story was produced by Postmedia Content Works as a result of advertisers’ interest in raising awareness about this subject. Advertisers were not given the opportunity to put restrictions on the content or review it prior to publication.

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